


Sleepless Nights

by CallmeG



Series: The Gift of Life [2]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Buck is DETERMINED to get his hand in Eddie's pants, Christopher Diaz Has Two Dads, Christopher Diaz is a National Treasure, Eddie is a sucker for his baby girl, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Mentions of Sex, but it's just not happening, family fic, his DAUGHTER relax I didn't tag buddie for clout
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 15:28:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30057588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CallmeG/pseuds/CallmeG
Summary: With multiple sleepless nights under his belt, two frustrated kids and Buck, it's safe to say Eddie is reaching his wit's end. Luckily, Buck is not just a baby magnet; he's also a baby whisperer and if he wasn't so good with Chris and Eloise, Eddie might just hate him a little.
Relationships: Eddie Diaz/Evan "Buck" Buckley
Series: The Gift of Life [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2198388
Comments: 4
Kudos: 123





	Sleepless Nights

**Author's Note:**

> Here we gooooooooo!  
> Part two to the Eloise Series, now called The Gift of Life because, y'know, poor Shannon died, but Eloise was born, so positive!  
> This carries on a couple of months after A Parting Gift
> 
> Side note, I just realised I use Eloise's nickname "Eli" in this fic a couple times so don't be confused if you see that. Eddie, the world's unluckiest man, did not have twins! I truly don't think he could take twins right now.

Carefully, Eddie placed Eloise in her crib and held his breath, backing away. With the white noise machine going and the room completely black, he was doing everything the websites had suggested for rough sleepers. It was even relatively cool; something a mother of four had suggested and Eddie was almost at his wit’s end. Christopher hadn’t been difficult to get to sleep as a baby- even now if Eddie put him down an hour early he didn’t fuss and would sleep through the night with ease. Eloise, on the other hand, was colicky and fussy and Eddie felt like he never got a full night’s sleep. In fact; he didn’t. Not an entire eight hours. Hell; he was lucky if he got five hours.

“Shhhh…”

Doing his usual slow dance across his bedroom with Eloise in his arms, Eddie internally begged for her to go to sleep. He’d been aware there might be some issues, because of her prematurity, but he hadn’t been expecting sleep to be one of them. Currently, he was only getting three to four hours of sleep a night and that was dangerous enough without also taking into consideration his job which needed him to be on high alert and ready for anything. Eloise was pretty much screaming into his shoulder, unhappy and fussy, and Eddie continued talking to her as he paced the wooden floor.

“Shh… hey… c’mon now…”

“Dad?”

Christopher was leaning against the door frame, rubbing at his eyes tiredly and Eddie shot him an apologetic smile.

“Hey, buddy. I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to wake you. Are you okay?”

“How do you make her be quiet?” Christopher yawned, stumbling over to his dad and sister. Eddie raised an eyebrow at his frustrated tone, holding his shoulder gently.

“That wasn’t very nice, Christopher. I know you’re struggling too, with everything changing, but you love her and sometimes we have to… _adjust_ , for the people we love.”

“I want to go to sleep,” Christopher murmured against his dad’s side and Eddie hummed.

“Me too. How about you go back to your bed, and when I get Eloise sorted I’ll come and tuck you back in. What do you think?”

“Mmmm… okay.”

Christopher went back to his room and Eddie realised Eloise had succumbed to her tiredness and was now snoozing in his arms. Finally.

Poking his head into the bunk room Buck’s eyebrows immediately furrowed at the sight of Eddie curled up on his bunk asleep, hidden under his blanket and a warm jacket. Buck frowned, wandering over and managing to sit on the edge of Eddie’s bed without startling him. It appeared Eddie was in a rather deep sleep and Buck felt awful for what he had to do but he didn’t want Eddie to panic when he woke to the distasteful alarm-

Almost on cue, the alarm blared obnoxiously into the relatively small room and Eddie shot up, almost hitting his head on the bottom of the bunk above. Buck grabbed him right before he did, giving him a gentle shake.

“We need to talk when we get back from this call, okay?”

“Yeah- uh, yeah. Sure.”

Eddie got up, kicking off the blankets to reveal his drill pants and regular fire-department issue long sleeve, rubbing at his eyes. Buck squeezed his arm.

“Hey, if you’re not feeling up to it, I’ll talk to Bobby for you. How about you go back to sleep?”

“No! No, I’m gonna do this. Let’s go.”

Eddie pushed toward the door, leaving Buck sitting in the bunk room utterly confused. Eddie had looked ready to vomit- or maybe collapse- one moment, the next his walls were back up to where they’d been months before Eloise was born.

“Eddie?”

“Yeah?”

Eddie looked up from where he’d been snoozing on the couch, completely wiped out from the relatively easy call. Buck pretended to be nauseous, holding his fist to his mouth and Eddie, forever the father he is, was immediately on high alert.

“What’s wrong? Buck?”

“I’m a little, uh… nauseous. Could you- uh… could you take me home?”

“Yeah, of course. Okay, c’mon.”

Eddie stood, taking off for the parking bays outside. He felt Buck grab his shirt and turned, tucking his friend under his arm.

“Here. Lean on me.”

When the duo got to Eddie’s apartment, Eddie realised Buck was behaving as though he didn’t have a worry in the world, no hint of the ‘nausea’ that had been plaguing him earlier. He was immediately suspicious. He knew what Buck looked like when he wasn’t feeling well and he knew when Buck was faking. It dawned on him that Buck was faking. And he’d fallen for it. Fuck, he really needed to sleep more.

“Buck, what’s going on?”

“What do you mean _what’s going on_? I know you man, you haven’t been sleeping, haven’t been eating, I think I saw you drink water last about a week ago.”

Buck took Eddie by the arm, gently leading him down the hallway to his bedroom.

“Tonight, you’re going to spend some time winding down. Carla is dropping off Christopher after school and your Abuela has Eli until five; it’s one. Until then, I think you should go and lie down. Maybe you should try and get some sleep. I’m going to be here if you need anything.”

Eddie immediately stiffened, about to decline the help, but the hands Buck put on his shoulders held him firm and gave him no choice but to make eye contact.

“Listen to me. Let us help you, man. I can handle the kids. You do what you need to do.”

“What if I need some me time?” Eddie smirked, hoping to god Buck would call truce and back off. Deep down, he saw it coming when Buck just smirked back and shrugged at him.

Eloise started fussing at 3am as usual and Eddie got up, scooping her up from her bassinet. She kicked and whined and gurgled in his arms, wriggling and stretching. Her cries only got louder when Eddie felt himself starting to lose his shit from exhaustion. He sighed, gently bouncing her and rubbing her back as he paced the small confines of his room. To his surprise, Buck poked his head in and immediately held out his arms.

“Hey. Do you want me to take her for a little while?”

“No, Buck, I can’t-“

“- Athena showed me how to hold her, and the nurse at the hospital… and Maddie… okay, and Carla. I promise, she’s safe with me.”

“I can’t let go of her,” Eddie murmured and Buck frowned.

“What? Sure you can-“

“-Buck. I’m not letting go of her. I’m a bad parent, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, she’s fussy and gassy and-“

“-and you’re working yourself up now. C’mere, man.”

Buck walked in and before Eddie could try to stop him, he had Eloise cradled carefully in his arms. Almost immediately she stopped fussing and Eddie sat on the edge of his bed as Buck gently lay Eloise back down. Turning on her white noise machine, she drifted to sleep easily and Buck took the opportunity to check on Eddie.

“Hey, man-“

“-what am I doing wrong? I’m supposed to be the experienced dad but you- you just got her to sleep in two seconds flat and I’ve been trying for the last three months!”

“You’re not just an _experienced_ dad, you’re a _good_ dad Eddie. I need you to trust me when I say that.”

When Eddie just blankly stared, Buck smiled sympathetically at him.

“Lie down. I’ll stay here for a bit just in case she wakes up again.”

Eddie got back under the covers, grabbing hold of his pillow and grasping it tightly in his hand as he tried to get comfortable. He heard Buck carefully sitting up against the wall, probably looking at crap on his phone.

Eddie bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut, struggling to hold back everything he wanted to say.

“Dad?”

“Yeah, buddy?”

“I love you.”

Eddie, in the middle of doing the dishes, turned to look at his son. Christopher, sitting at the bar doing his homework, continued to write while Eddie processed what his son had said.

“I love you too, mijo.”

“Do you love Eloise too?” Christopher asked cautiously, finally putting his pencil down and Eddie immediately nodded.

“I love you and Eloise just the same. You two are the most important people in my life.”

“What about Buck?!” Christopher demanded, panicked and Eddie frowned.

“What about Buck?”

“Isn’t he important to you?”

“Sure, but no one comes before you and Eli.”

Christopher started laughing, the laughter that Eddie despised hearing because it meant his son knew something he didn’t, and picked up his pencil.

“You’re silly, dad.”

“Do your homework, buddy.”

Buck came over again the next night, staying in Eddie’s room with him and Eloise. Eddie found it was a lot easier to cope with an unsettled baby when Buck was with him. When Eloise finally settled close to 3am Eddie collapsed on top of the covers and Buck pulled the blankets over him, getting under himself.

“I hope this is okay,” he mumbled. Eddie, assuming he was talking about them sharing a bed, waved him off.

Then Buck kissed him.

So Eddie kissed him back.

“No, Bobby, it’s just- Eddie thinks both Chris and Eli are getting colds, and he’s not feeling so good himself. I know- yeah. Yeah, I’m aware of how it looks. Bobby, c’mon. Listen- I know I’m with Eddie a lot, but we’re not… it isn’t like that.”

Eddie rolled over to see Buck standing outside his bedroom door, having a hushed conversation with Bobby on the phone. He turned to see Eddie awake and gently smiled, pointing at his phone and rolling his eyes. Christopher was attached to him for some reason, buried into Buck’s side and Eddie got up, brushing a hand down Christopher’s back before pressing a kiss to Buck’s cheek as he lifted Christopher on to his hip. Chris hugged his neck, pushing himself close and Eddie carried him to his bed, depositing him where Buck had slept the night before. Eloise stirred in her bassinet and Eddie grabbed her too, gently cooing as he cradled her.

“Good morning to you too, baby. I bet you’re starving, huh?”

“Can I feed her?” Christopher asked and Eddie nodded, handing his daughter to his eldest.

“Be gentle. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Buck had hung up on Bobby and come back into the room by then so he sat on the bed too, watching Chris with his sister. Eddie shifted to the kitchen and prepared a bottle, surprised when he realised it was 9am. He felt arms sneak around his waist while he waited for the microwave to heat the bottle of formula and found Buck standing behind him. Eddie turned, holding Buck’s arms.

“We need to talk about this.”

“We cannot have sex with Eloise in the room.”

Eddie raised an eyebrow, opening his mouth to maybe ask where that came from, but Buck hopped up on the counters and pulled Eddie into him, giving him a kiss.

“So, over the next couple weeks we’re going to work on getting her to a) sleep through the night, and b) sleep in her own room at least twice a week.”

“What if I can’t get her to sleep through the night?”

“Maddie said we can try a couple different things. Lavender oil, warm baths right before bedtime, all that fun stuff. You know her, she’s a baby nut right now.”

“Buck, I-“

“-and I’m not going anywhere until you sleep at least six hours consecutively.”

“I don’t think I’ve slept that long since I was seventeen.”

“Prepare to get your sleep on, then,” Buck said as he wiggled his eyebrows. Eddie rolled his eyes, pressing a kiss to Buck’s lips.

Eddie was convinced Buck had the magical touch. Eloise slept from 7pm until 5am every night for a week, without any issues. If she fussed in the night Buck looked up but he didn’t move from his newfound spot on Eddie’s chest. Eddie found he was getting back into the groove of being a dad to a newborn- a groove he didn’t realise he had lost.

Then came Sunday night, and Buck had called Eddie to let him know he was going to stay with Maddie for the night- she and Chimney had a minor spat but she was pretty worked up about it and Buck wasn’t going to leave her when she needed him. Eddie hadn’t even considered telling him no, instead offering for Buck to call him if he or Maddie needed anything. Bedtime routine rolled around and Eddie got Christopher through the bath and into bed with ease, but Eloise- Eloise flat out refused to settle and Eddie found himself doing that same _stupid_ dance across the bedroom with Eloise on his chest, internally begging her to go to sleep whilst trying not to cry from stress. If Buck was there, he would have put Eloise down and walked away, but every time she whimpered Eddie was terrified she was actually in distress; actually in pain.

Finally, around 1am, Eddie asked Siri to call Buck.

“Hey, Eds. Everything okay?” Buck asked and Eddie winced.

“Hey, ah, yeah, everything is great, it’s just-“

Eloise cut him off with a wail and Buck sighed.

“Eddie, put her in her bassinet and walk away. Right now.”

“She’s distressed, Buck, I can’t-“

“-Eddie. Now.”

Eddie had never heard Buck so demanding, and he’d be lying if he said it didn’t turn him on a little. Gently placing Eloise in her bassinet, he picked up his phone and took it off speakerphone.

“Now what?” Eddie asked.

“Close the door, and start doing the dishes.”

“What? Why would I-“

“-because that is the routine we’ve been doing. Maddie says babies need routine. I know she’s crying and I know it’s hurting you, but she’s just putting on a show. You’ve fed her, changed her, burped her, she is fine.”

“How did you get so knowledgeable about babies?”

Eddie cursed under his breath and Buck huffed.

“Well, shit, I dunno; maybe I’ve been hanging out with you and Hen and Maddie too much recently,” he deadpanned. Eddie rolled his eyes, more for his own comfort than for Buck to see.

“See you tomorrow.”

“See you then.”

Buck did indeed come home the following morning, back to Eddie and Christopher and Eloise, and Eddie had never been so glad to see him. Pressing a kiss to Buck’s lips and hugging his side, Eddie brushed a hand through Buck’s hair.

“Man, I missed you.”

“I missed you too, babe, but we need to talk about what happened last night.”

“Old habits die hard,” Eddie said and Buck hummed.

“Okay good talk. Conversation over, back to putting my hand in your pants-“

“-Bucky!”

Christopher rounded the corner from the kitchen into the entryway and Buck internally facepalmed at himself for forgetting Christopher would be home. _Rookie mistake_.

“-or not. Hey, buddy, c’mere!”

Buck wrapped his arms around Christopher’s shoulders, pressing a kiss to his hair.

“Did you grow in the time I was gone? I swear you did.”

“You were only gone one sleep, Buck!” Christopher smiled and Eddie’s heart ached watching two of the three people he loved the most interact. As if aware she was missing out on the action, Eloise began to cry out and Buck put his hand on Eddie’s waist.

“I got her. Go and have a shower, start on breakfast?”

“Mm… this domestic Buck thing is really doing something for me.”

Eddie kissed Buck once more before heading into the bathroom. Christopher blinked.

“Can we have your pancakes? Don’t tell dad but I always throw his out.”

Buck stifled a laugh, wrapping an arm around Christopher’s shoulders.

“I think we can do that. How about I watch your dad make them?”

“Deal.”

That night, instead of opting to go home like Buck did the day before a 48 hour shift, Eddie tugged on his sleeve with that damn smile that Buck knew meant he’d be staying the night, preferably naked and on top of the sheets.

**Author's Note:**

> As usual, if you want to rant to me, or have suggestions for the series, hit me up on Cowboy-Eddie on Tumblr!


End file.
